Alpha Omega 02 - Hunting Ground
to decide if it should reassure her or worry her.
âGlad you made it in, sir,â said the one who was in charge. It still freaked her out sometimes how she could tell who was in charge by the subtle cues of body motion and position. Real peopleânormal humans âdidnât need to know who was first and who was last.
âWe were following you on our radar, and Jim here was worried you might have had some trouble because your speed seemed a little erratic.â
Charles gave them a neutral face, and Anna wondered what his aerobatics had looked like on radar.
âNo trouble,â he said.
The other wolf cleared his throat and dropped his gaze. âGood. Iâm Ian Garner of the Emerald City Pack, and Iâm to help you in any way that I can.â
As Charles and the other wolves unloaded the luggage and discussed how the plane was to be cared for and stored, Anna stood a little apart. She wasnât as nervous with the strangers as she expected to beâand it took her a minute to pinpoint why.
Ian was middle of the pack and leader here. So this group was not the Alphaâs top tier of wolves, nowhere near the most dominant; they were wolves who wouldnât spark a dominant maleâs instinct to put them in their places. Angus Hopper, the Emerald City Pack Alpha, was a smart man. Not that he had to worry about Charlesâs control, but playing it safe was always a smart move.
Angus wouldnât have done it because strange dominant males still scared Anna, but a part of her was grateful nonetheless.
There would be enough dominant males to drown in later, when the meetings took place. The wolves coming from Europe each ruled their own territories; some of them had been in power for centuries. No one would hurt her, not while she was with Charles. She knew it, but her fear of male wolves had taken a few years to beat into her and would take more than a month or two to free herself from.
âTheyâll take care of the airplane,â said Ian. He picked up the nearest piece of luggage and, with a dropped shoulder and a deferential swing of his head instead of words, invited them to follow him up a stone pathway through the trees. Charles took his own suitcase and waited for Anna to precede him.
Once he had them moving, the Emerald City wolf started talking in a rapid all-business voice that might have masked his anxiety from someone who was purely human. Charles did that to people, even in his own pack, and she didnât think even his father knew how much it bothered him.
âAngus is at work,â the wolf said. âHe says youâre to have free access to the house.â Anna remembered getting a glimpse of a house as they landed, but from the ground, it was well hidden by the trees. That must be where they were headed toward. âYouâre welcome to anything any of us have, but the pack itself has a newish Land Cruiser and a Corolla that has seen better days. Angus says you can use his BMW if youâd rather.â
âWeâll take the Corolla,â Charles told him. âAnd weâre staying in a hotel downtown. This is too far for an easy commute to the meeting place.â
âHe thought you would feel that way. Angus invites you to stay with him at his condo in the city.â
âNot necessary,â said Charles. Anna wasnât sure he noticed the other manâs mouth flatten. More probably he just didnât care.
The Emerald City Pack was hosting the meeting, and for Charles to refuse housing might look like he was not acknowledging them as allies. Charles preferred to be independentâseparate from the people he might be called upon to kill. Charles was his fatherâs assassin and justice dealer, and that grim responsibility affected everything he did. He didnât go out of his way to make friends among the werewolves, not even in his own pack. He would feel more comfortable on his own.
That didnât mean that Anna couldnât smooth things over.
âWe appreciate the offer,â Anna told Ian. âBut weâre newly mated and . . .â It didnât require any effort on her part to blush as her voice trailed off. And whatever offense heâd felt was overshadowed by interest.
âSo itâs true?â Ian glanced at Charles, then quickly away. âI had heard that.â
âShocking, I know,â murmured Charles.
The other wolf stiffened and gave Charles a worried look,
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